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6mm Baccus ACW

Hello again! First off, apologies for not being on all the way through November; I've been living in a dusty hole all month in Cyprus. But fear not, wargaming was never very far from my mind and with my latest purchases I have an idea for another ACW game.

I recently read Civil War Tactics by Earl J. Hess. This book looks at regimental-level tactics and is a real eye-opener for wargamers. We have some conception of different manoeuvres and formations used in battle, but this book goes into detail about how and why each formation was used. How colonels changed their formations in battle, and why drill was important even in the fabled 'Age of the Rifled Musket'. I supplemented this with a pamphlet called Casey's For Reenactors. This translates the contemporary drill manuals into understandable English for a modern audience, with plenty of diagrams.

I want to create a wargame where you are the colonel of a regiment, and you have to give proper orders to your men and lead them in battle. Not just 'move', 'shoot' etc, but give the proper drill commands. Random dice might mean your men bunch up, spread out, drift off centre while marching, or simply not hear your commands.

It's all very embryonic at this stage, but I've gone far enough down the rabbit hole to get some 6mm Baccus ACW models. These are going to be based on a 1:3 scale, so the regiment will be about 100 or so figures.

A picture from Caseys for Reenactors, showing how double columns were deployed.
Includes diagrams and words of command!

Anyway, just a quick update as I'm back through the door. I'll be getting round the blogs and seeing what I've missed in the next few days!

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Welcome To Palladian Guard

I'm Ed, and welcome to the Palladian Guard blog. This site formerly followed the fortunes of my 40K army, but now I also post about my wider interest in historical gaming, as well as all my painting and modelling.

If you like what you see, or want to know more, email me at colonelscipio(at)yahoo.co.uk.